The Uchiha clan, which was wiped out entirely, lacked vision.

Chapter 232 War Breaks Out Again

Chapter 232 War Breaks Out Again

"How could they do this?" Jiraiya immediately became angry, his eyebrows standing on end.

"That's just how they are, what can you do about it, Hokage?"

"Are you going to walk up to their doors and drag them out one by one to beat them up?"

"Is that not allowed?" Jiraiya retorted.

"Uh—" Nara Shikasuke was speechless for a moment, then sighed, "If you go and fight them, they'll just stretch out their necks and let you hit them."

"Anyway, they've figured out your personality, Hokage-sama, and they know you definitely won't kill them."

"For those ninja clans, what's a beating if they can just get away with it?"

"Hiss—" Jiraiya gasped in shock. There was nothing he could do.

Without money, nothing can be done. With many ninja clans refusing to cooperate, the recovery of Konoha Village came to a complete standstill.

Unable to obtain any money from the village, Jiraiya had no choice but to seek an audience with Lord Utani, hoping to acquire more resources from the nobles.

The ninja clan built a luxurious manor for Lord Xugu, complete with artificial mountains, lakes, exotic flowers and rare herbs.

Jiraiya had been busy with village affairs and had never been here before. Now that he saw it, he couldn't help but frown inwardly.

Although using ninjas to do the work is much better than using ordinary people, it only increases efficiency, but does not reduce costs; in fact, it can make the work more expensive.

The construction cost of this manor alone, plus the costs of decoration, transplantation, and other expenses, would probably be several billion taels of silver.

If this money were used for village reconstruction, it would certainly enable more infrastructure projects.

But he also knew that this kind of thing was commonplace in the ninja world, so there was nothing he could say.

After being informed, Jiraiya was invited into a living room and met Lord Utsugu.

He ordered someone to bring tea, and the two sat facing each other. After exchanging a few polite words, Jiraiya directly stated his purpose.

"Oh, you want supplies? That's actually quite easy," said Master Xugu, waving his folding fan with a broad smile.

"The Daimyo has been working with the nobles to gather supplies, and once they are collected, they will naturally be sent to Konoha Village."

"Oh, that's wonderful." Jiraiya's heart finally relaxed. "Then may I ask, Lord Uroko, when will Konoha Village receive these supplies?"

Seeing Lord Xu Gu frown, Jiraiya quickly explained with a smile, "Please don't misunderstand, I'm not urging you. It's just that the village's need for supplies is huge right now, and things have come to a standstill."

"If I know the approximate time, I can make plans in advance."

"I see!" Lord Xugu looked troubled. "Well, that's hard to say."

"As you know, many nobles lost their fiefdoms because of the cession of territory and payment of reparations."

"These people are constantly crying and making a scene around the daimyo, putting him in a very difficult position!"

"In addition, the supplies raised should be used to pay reparations to various countries first."

"Those previous truckloads of supplies were all squeezed out of the reparations paid by the various noble families, who tightened their belts!"

"Ah, I see." Jiraiya's face immediately darkened, and he said with difficulty, "Can't we postpone the compensation? We should support our own people first!"

Lord Xu Gu covered his mouth with his fan, looking at him with amusement, and chuckled, "What, does Lord Jiraiya intend to overturn the previous agreements with various countries and start another war?"

"Ah, no, no, that's not what I meant." Jiraiya quickly shook his head. "Although these treaties are very humiliating, Konoha Village really can't afford to go to war with the other four countries right now."

"Hehe—" Lord Xugu suddenly chuckled strangely, "Actually, we don't necessarily have to go to war with the other four countries at the same time!"

"The war was started because the various countries wanted to gain benefits from the Land of Fire."

"But now that they have what they wanted, all that is left is to digest the spoils of their victory."

"Just like a tiger that wants to take a nap after it has eaten its fill, countries around the world today also don't want to go to war."

"Konoha Village certainly can't defeat the four countries right now, but if it were to fight a single country, like the Land of Wind, that would be quite easy!"

"What?!" Jiraiya was startled at first, but couldn't help but feel a flutter in his heart.

The Land of Wind is the weakest of the five great nations. Not long ago, even the tailed beasts were stolen. Even though Konoha is very weak now, it may not necessarily lose to the Land of Wind.

But the thought flashed through his mind and immediately disappeared.

"No, no, Lord Xugu, war is bound to be accompanied by death."

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"Whether it's people from Konoha or people from Sunagakure, I don't want to see them die."

"Enough people have died in the ninja world already; it's best to avoid another war."

"What we need to do next is to work hard to develop ourselves. As long as our village develops well, everyone will naturally have a bright future."

"Tsk!" Lord Xu Gu immediately became displeased, his face hardening as he reprimanded, "It is precisely because of this conservative mindset that Konoha Village has fallen further and further behind."

"In the ninja world, everyone is in a dog-eat-dog world. If you don't take from others, others will take from you."

"Every time the village is robbed, its strength weakens, which is why we are in this predicament today."

"Jiraiya, I'll just tell you straight!"

"Noble families don't have surplus grain either; they can't possibly support you without paying a price."

"We've already discussed it. Since we can't afford to provoke the big countries, we'll start with the smaller ones, get some resources, and replenish everyone's resources."

"What?!" Jiraiya exclaimed in surprise, abruptly standing up and sternly refusing, "No way!"

"I will absolutely not agree to this!"

"Disagree?" Lord Xugu sneered. "What makes you disagree?"

"Don't forget, you're no longer the Hokage. The power in the village is now in the hands of the Daimyo."

"Speaking of which, I should thank you!"

"If you hadn't been so childish, insisting on this whole 'unity of purpose' thing, those ninja clans wouldn't have been so easily won over by me."

"You probably don't know this, do you?"

"During this time, most of the ninja clans in the village came to pay their respects to me in private and pledged their loyalty to me and the daimyo and nobles behind me."

"Of course, I didn't promise them any benefits either."

"For example, swallow up the surrounding small countries and let all the ninja clans have a feast."

"That's impossible!" Jiraiya's expression changed drastically. "During the war, many ninja from each clan died. How could they possibly agree to start another war with you?"

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